


Remember When

by Rum and Flamingo (icedtears)



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Family, M/M, Mild Language, Rare Pairings, Sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 16:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17104082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icedtears/pseuds/Rum%20and%20Flamingo
Summary: Some things are better left hidden.





	Remember When

“N.E.? Who’s that?” Rayleigh jolted, unaware that Roger had been behind him. Damn that man for being so quiet. 

 

“What? What are you on about now? I thought you and Rouge were on a date today. Why are you back on the Oro?” 

 

“We are! We are! I was showing her the library, and we came across one of your old log books! Back from our house-boat days!” Rayleigh laughed at the face Roger had made when speaking of the Oro’s small library, then froze when he realized what the rest of the sentence had been.

 

“There’s a pic of you and a kid too. Kid’s kinda cute, weird hair though.” Roger fished a hand into his pocket, making a small noise of triumph when he found what he was looking for. In his hand was an old photograph, yellowed by time, of a much younger Rayleigh holding a young blonde boy in his arms. 

 

-

 

_ “Dad! Dad! Pops said that I was able to hold flight for three minutes today, yoi! Isn’t that awesome, yoi?” _

 

_ Rayleigh laughed as the young boy ran into his side, flames extinguishing right before making contact with his father’s side. Ruffling the blond tuft of hair, the older man bent down, picking up the child and swinging him around. _

 

_ “That’s great, Marco! I’m so proud of you! Soon you will be able to soar for hours!” _

 

_ The sound of a camera snail had Rayleigh turning to face the other man in the room. _

 

_ “Gurararara! Look how adorable the two of you are together!” _

 

_ “Edward!” _

 

_ “Pops! I’m not adorable, yoi!” Edward laughed again, moving toward the pair. Once he was close enough, he knelt down, placing a quick kiss on Rayleigh’s cheek, before moving to pat Marco’s head. _

 

_ “I disagree, gurararara! You are both my adorable loves!” _

 

_ “Edward!” _

 

_ “And now, I will forever have proof!” _

 

-

“Give me that!”

 

“Whoa! Calm down! What’s got you so worked up?” Rayleigh froze, aware of his outburst. 

 

“It’s...nothing. I’m just tired, that’s all. And I don’t appreciate you going through my stuff, Roger!”

 

“Whaaaa? Hey, these are my log books too! See, both of our names are in here!” He flipped open the front cover of the log book that he had also brought in, presenting both their names to Rayleigh.

 

“Fine, whatever.” Rayleigh stood, reaching a hand out for the picture and the log book. “Give those to me, I’ll put them back.”

 

“Nope! Geez old man. What’s got you cranky?” 

 

“Roger we are the same a-”

 

“Newgate Edward.” Both men turned to see Rouge in the doorway, another notebook in her hand.

 

“Rouge?” Roger moved toward her, but she held out a hand to stop him, looking at Rayleigh.

 

_ “Today, Edward said that our boy was able to hold flight for more than an hour. I’m slightly worried about how fast his progress has been, but Edward said that the flight process in birds is very fast. I almost threw him into the ocean when he suggested we find a tall tree and push  _ our son _ out of it. That man is lucky I love him.” _

 

“What?” Roger turned to face Rayleigh, who was now leaning heavily onto his desk, one hand covering his face, while the other was holding him steady.

 

_ “I cannot stay anymore. Edward is so determined to continue on as a pirate, and I am simply tired. Our boy seems to want to follow in his father’s footsteps, and I do not have the heart to stop him. He has apparently already started a crew, while I was away in Alabasta. They call themselves  _ The Whitebeard Pirates. _ ” _

 

“Rouge...please...hand that to me…” The Dark Kings voice was weak, and it shook Roger to his bones.

 

_ “I don’t know why I thought the separation would be peaceful. It was anything but. I’m so glad that the boy was out with his friends. Edward was mad, but he should have seen this coming. I told him repeatedly that I didn’t want this life. I’ve never seen him this mad.” _

 

“Rayleigh, are we talking about the same Whitebeard? The one we fought last week? The one we continuously fight?”

 

_ “I join a Pirate Crew today, apparently. I wonder what Edward would think.” _

 

A hand slammed on wood, causing Rouge and Roger to jump. 

 

“I said enough. Please hand that to me, and leave. Both of you.”

 

“Rayleigh, it’s okay. I’m not mad. Hell, I don’t even know what’s going on really...Rouge?”

 

“I believe Silvers-san was at one time involved with Whitebeard. His real name is Newgate Edward, is it not?”

 

“Wha?! Really?”

 

“And the boy that you mention. Your son? That’s Phoenix Marco, isn’t it?”

 

Rayleigh sighed, moving to face the port window by his desk, looking out at the calm waters. He couldn’t say this facing Roger. He was by no means a weak man, but this was one subject he never wanted to talk about with anyone, let alone Roger. Rouge being in the room wasn’t helping either. 

 

“...yes. He’s mine and Edward’s. We adopted him when he was two or so. Edward and I had been together for about 12 years then, I believe.”

 

“I see...I’m sorry to hear that you two are no longer together.” Rouge moved toward Rayleigh, but Roger stopped her. Rayleigh wasn’t a violent man, but she had just read out of what was probably his personal journal. In response, Rayleigh pushed away from the window, moving toward a chest by his bed. Bending down, he unlocked and opened lid, shuffling objects around until he found what he was looking for. After a pause, he stood up and handed the object, a frame, to Rouge. 

 

Framed in white pearl was another picture of both Rayleigh and Whitebeard, both in suits. They weren’t looking at the camera snail, too engrossed with each other and their son. A son who was carrying a tiny pillow with two rings on it, and had flowers tangled in his hair. 

 

“You would be apologizing for nothing. Edward and I never actually broke up, or well, divorced. Marco used to say we were “pirate married”, hence the image, because we had been together for so long. 21 years, I think, when we went separate ways. I doubt Edward would consider us separated as well. He’s...sentimental like that.” 

 

No one spoke, but Roger landed heavily on Rayleigh’s bed, the wooden legs scraping across the floor. 

 

“You...fuck. That means every time we’ve gone against Whitebeard…”

 

“I fought with only the crew in mind. Don’t you  _ dare  _ start thinking I wouldn’t put the crew’s safety above my feelings.” Rouge moved toward Roger, gently patting his hat.

 

“That’s not it. It’s just that, I would have never figured it out. You would never guess with how often the two of you clash.”

 

“Roger, I left both my husband and my son. We have several grievances to work out. We usually never get around to start fighting about those though, crew matters first after all.”

 

“And Marco?”

 

“I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever seen him near me in a fight. Either he’s keeping himself away, or Edward is. I don’t want to fight my own child, but if it keeps the crew safe…”

 

“Rayleigh…” Rouge stood, but Rayleigh shook his head. 

 

“Don’t worry about...don’t worry about any of this. It’s nothing new, and nothing is going to change. You two should continue your date and forget about little ol’ me.” He held out a hand for the blonde, and grabbed Roger by the arm.

 

“Out you get, the both of you. You still have several hours of sunlight left, go explore or something. Navy’s bound to be back on our asses by tomorrow.” Quickly shooing them out, Rayleigh made sure that both books and photos were on his desk before they departed. Once the pair were off the Oro, he was going to remove all of his old journals from public reach. 

 

“Ray-”

 

“Good afternoon, Captain, Ma’am. Be safe, you know how to signal me if you need me.” The door was gently closed, but harshly locked, as Roger sputtered at the blatant rejection his first mate had just given him.

 

“Rouge, I-”

 

“Come Roger. We have clearly bothered him enough today. I was thinking of stopping by that little dessert store we saw! I wonder if they have those tortilla type pastries…”

 

“Crepes?”

 

“Oh yes! Those! Come now, dear. Let's leave him to his memories.”

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first of many (I hope) Rayleigh/Whitebeard Fics! I suddenly had this idea for a pairing the other day, and here we are! Feel free to leave a comment, or come scream with me on twitter (@rumandflamingo)!


End file.
